Prior art devices have attempted to provide systems for aligning large cylindrical rollers as used in the handling of paper, polymer film, fabric or metal foil. These devices attempt to provide an alignment such that one longitudinal axis is parallel to another for adjacent cylindrical rollers. Additionally, it would be desirable to align the rollers such that the exterior surfaces are tangential to a common plane. In this way, it is possible to reduce bending, twisting and wrinkling of the thin, film-like media as it is passed from one roller to another. A number of prior art devices have included visual indicators which operate by line of sight, such as straight edge rule indicators which are placed adjacent to the side surfaces of the rollers to visually inspect their respective alignment.
Generally, rollers are mechanically adjusted by an operator adding or removing thin metal shims to the shafts about which the rollers rotate. This is commonly done using mechanical measurements such as calipers or line of sight indicators such as rule indicators and proper alignment is generally achieved through a rather painstaking trial and error process. In making these adjustments, a significant amount of media such as paper, polymer film, or metal foil may be rendered as scrap until the rollers can be placed in proper alignment. Accordingly, there is a need for an alignment system which can ensure that the longitudinal axes of adjacent rollers are parallel to each other and that the surfaces of the rollers can be aligned along a common plane using a form of positive visual feedback which can significantly reduce the amount of trial and error adjustment and the associated scrap material.